The House on the Cliff by the Sea
by Jenna Cassie Herdz
Summary: Ponyo and Sosuke celebrate their first anniversary as a married couple


_**The House on the Cliff by the Sea**_

"Sosuke!" Ponyo called, running down the hall in a flowing, coral nightgown with spaghetti straps that fell to her ankles. Her red, curly hair bounced all around her head and shoulders as she came to a stop and her head swiveled from side to side on her shoulders, her deep green eyes scanning her surroundings.

"Sosuke!" she called again.

"The kitchen, Ponyo!" he finally called back, and a grin lit up her face as she raced into the kitchen to see him standing at the counter doing something she couldn't see.

She ran toward him and threw her arms around him from behind, making him grunt and jerk forward slightly, but she only snuggled her cheek to his back. He chuckled at her and turned to look to her with warm, dark brown eyes under strands of mussed brown hair.

"You'd better get dressed," he smiled, turning back to what he was doing and Ponyo stepped onto her tiptoes to rest her chin on his shoulder to see. She let out an awed call as her face lit up even brighter to see him carefully slicing a huge piece of meat. "You don't want your new nightgown to get dirty, do you?"

"It's ham!" she grinned, hugging him tighter and burying her face into his back again. "I'll be right back!"

Sosuke chuckled as she detached from him and ran down the hall again to their room to change. He couldn't help but recall the day he'd accepted Ponyo completely, even though it had been so many years ago. Fifteen to be exact.

Fifteen. Had it been that long? It seemed like just yesterday he'd kissed that bubble and Ponyo had formed into a little girl. Now here they were, celebrating their first anniversary as a married couple. Actually, he counted this as their fifteenth, counting from the day they'd met. Though Ponyo hadn't noticed, they had managed to have their wedding day on one of those anniversaries, so as he saw, they were married on their fourteenth anniversary.

He shook his head at himself as he finished slicing the ham he'd brought with him from his butcher shop and dumped the knife into the sink to wash his hands. After drying them he slipped a hand into one of his pockets and felt at the chain in it. Pulling his hand back out he held the gold necklace up to examine the trinket seashell dangling from it. It glinted in the setting sunlight, making him smile before he heard hurried footsteps heading his way again. He quickly hid the necklace in his pocket again and picked up the pair of chopsticks he'd set aside to use for the meat. As he started transferring some of the meat into the heated pan on the stove he saw Ponyo step up next to him to examine what he was doing.

"Isn't it _my_ turn to cook tonight?" she recalled, her hands slipping around his arm as she looked up at him and he turned a warm smile to her.

"It's our anniversary, remember?" he replied, leaning toward her face to give her an Eskimo kiss before turning back to cooking. "All you have to do is set the table and sit looking pretty as always."

Ponyo smiled and stepped onto her tiptoes again to press a small kiss to his cheek before nodding and turning to gather what they'd need to eat with. She plopped into a chair, straightening her long white skirt and pulling at the hem of her pink blouse. She leaned an elbow on the table to watch Sosuke cook, taking a curl into her hand and twirling it on her finger as she did.

She admired the way his dark blue, button-down shirt and forest green cargo pants fit his tall, lanky form perfectly. They were baggy on him, but not so baggy that his clothes fell off of him. She loved how his clothes always fit _her_ too. On cold nights when he had to stay late at the shop, she'd wrap herself in one of his shirts and fall asleep on the sofa, only to have him carry her to their bed when he returned home, but he always let her keep the shirt. She couldn't understand why she always felt warmer in his clothes than in her own, even if she piled on the layers.

"Alright," Sosuke grinned, holding the pan in one hand, chopsticks in the other as he brought to her plate. She jumped when she realized he was right next to her and serving her. "Be careful. It's still hot."

Ponyo nodded hugely with a cute affirmative noise as she set her hands in her lap and Sosuke served himself before placing the pan in the kitchen again. She stared at the plate, feeling her stomach growling, but not touching her food until Sosuke came to the table with two mugs full of steaming tea.

"Ah~! This is the kind of tea your mom gave us when I found you again!" she remembered and he chuckled with a nod before leaning down and pressing a lingering kiss to her cheek. He stepped back to his seat and sat with a sigh as Ponyo blew on her food to quicken its cool-down.

"How was your day, Ponyo?" Sosuke asked as they both started at their food, Ponyo not being able to get enough in her mouth.

"It was fine," she replied through a mouthful of ham. "Father visited earlier today. He wanted to wish us a happy anniversary, but you weren't here. He said he'd visit tomorrow."

"He came to the house?" Sosuke wondered with a frown, remembering that Fujimoto needed to keep wet, even on land.

"I met him at the shore down there," Ponyo explained, gesturing out the kitchen window where their little cliff took a dive into the ocean. "He said he wanted to spend some time with me, so he took me for a ride on his boat. I got to see my sisters, too!"

"I'm glad you had a good day, honey," Sosuke smiled, wiping his mouth as he stood and she continued eating, half her plate gone already.

Sosuke came up behind her, his hands in his pockets and she suddenly sat up, realizing he'd disappeared and she looked around for him before lifting her head back and seeing him behind her. He smiled and leaned over her as she grinned up at him and he pressed a kiss to her forehead as he slipped his hands out of his pockets, brought them together for a moment then held them both up, the necklace dangling above her head. Ponyo grinned and shot her head to turn around to see what he was holding and he backed up a bit as she stood to face him.

"It's a seashell!" she grinned, her green eyes alight with joy and he couldn't help but stare at her for a moment before he lifted the necklace a little higher, drawing her attention to him.

"Turn around," he instructed and she instantly obeyed, spinning around so fast, her mass of curly hair hit him in the face, making him laugh before he wrapped the necklace around her neck. He used his fingertips to move her hair away from her neck and Ponyo shivered at the light touch as he clasped the chain behind her before he slid his arms around hers and hold her close to whisper, "Do you like it?"

"I love it!" she cheered, spinning around to throw herself into his arms, hugging him tightly as he chuckled. He gently took her arms and held her out at arms length to look at her and nodded.

"Yup, I thought so," he mused, making her frown in wonder. "You make that necklace even more beautiful."

Ponyo smiled sweetly, her cheeks turning a rosy red as she clasped her hands together in front of her and swung from side to side before she threw herself into his arms against, this time planting her lips to his. Sosuke returned the kiss as he pulled her closer, one arm slipping around her waist and the other fisting the curls cascading down her back. They pulled away, but still held onto each other as Ponyo grinned, licking her lips.

"You taste like ham!" she grinned, her green eyes still bright and Sosuke laughed before pulling her close for a tight hug.

"Happy anniversary, Ponyo," he murmured into her hair.

"Happy anniversary, Sosuke!" she smiled back, lifting her feet to let Sosuke hold her up as she crossed one ankle over the other and grinned, "I wanna go swimming!"

"Alright," he nodded, setting her down but not letting her go. "We'll go get changed-"

"We don't have to!" Ponyo cut in, grabbing one of his hands and heading toward the back door. "We can go swimming like this!"

"But, Ponyo-!"

"We'll be ok, Sosuke!" she assured him as they stepped outside, the ocean breeze whipping around them as Ponyo dragged Sosuke down the narrow and step trail leading to the ocean.

He decided not to argue with her as they soon came to the water and she dove in, leaving a huge splash as she did, making Sosuke laugh as he shielded himself from the splash. Ponyo laughed as she easily peddled in the water for a moment before realizing Sosuke wasn't joining her and she swam to one of the rocks nearest to him.

"Come on, Sosuke!" she grinned, leaning over to grip his hand and pull him toward her.

He stumbled into the water, but managed to remain standing for a moment as Ponyo jumped back into the water…still holding Sosuke's hand. He finally fell in as Ponyo released his hand and burst into laughter before diving into the water. Sosuke floated under the water, face down as Ponyo swam and turned to float beneath him, staring at him upside-down. She frowned beneath the water when she noticed his eyes were closed and he wasn't moving.

Ponyo lifted a hand and poked him between the eyes and his eyes shot open as bubbles burst from his mouth in an underwater shout with a grin, making Ponyo jump and laugh as they both kicked to the surface. They instantly began a splash-fight and before they knew it, the sun was nearly beneath the horizon and Sosuke had to nearly drag Ponyo out of the water.

He let go of her hand as they stepped back into the house and he headed toward the hall, calling, "I'll bring a couple of towels for us."

She nodded hugely and stepped toward the light switch to turn it on before heading back toward the hall. Halfway there she saw Sosuke standing at the end of the hall with a towel over his head and shoulders and one in his hands, holding it out long-ways. She grinned before running toward him and he grunted when she rammed into him, but he caught her by wrapping her in the towel.

She said something muffled by the towel, making him laugh as he rubbed her dry before he opened his arms again, still holding the towel as he asked, "What are you saying?"

Ponyo turned around and leaned back on him so he could wrap his arms around her again as she replied, "How come you're always so warm? Even your shirts are warm when I wear them…warmer than _my_ clothes."

"It's you, Ponyo," he smiled, hugging her tightly and rocking her back and forth as she looked back at him with wide, wonder-filled eyes, but he only smiled at her. "You warm my heart, so everything I own is warm too, because _I'm_ always warm when I'm with _you_."

Ponyo's cheeks turned a bright red as he continued to smile down at her and she found that she couldn't tear her gaze from his. Sosuke dipped his head down and captured her mouth for a warm kiss, hugging her even closer as she sighed against his lips. They pulled away simultaneously so that he could lean forward and sweep her off of her feet, the towel still around her as she flung her arms around his neck with a surprised squeak.

"Sosuke?" she nearly shouted in his ear. "Where are you taking me?"

"Our room," he laughed as she kicked, wildly but she stilled when he started down the hall. "It's our anniversary, remember?"

"Our _fifteenth_ anniversary," Ponyo grinned in return, making Sosuke stop dead in his tracks and stare at her with wide eyes as she only grinned at him.

"You…count it that way, too?" he breathed and she nodded hugely making him grin widely.

He pulled her close in his arms to snuggle his cheek to hers, causing her to giggle before he pressed a kiss to her cheek again and resumed his journey down the hall, turning into their room and kicking the door shut with his foot. Fifteen years, and they hadn't left their house on the cliff by the sea.

* * *

**A/N:** well, wucha think? i didn't wanna make it hot and heavy, even though they're married adults like i usually do cuz this is Ponyo and Sosuke, for goodness sakes! lol reviews?


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